Sunday 29 September 2013

Warm Bodies DVD

When I got back home from hospital one of the first things I did was to send an order off to Amazon.UK for a few DVD films and books I had missed. One of the films that I bought was Warm Bodies, a zombie romantic comedy. I can remember seeing the trailer for it months ago and I thought that it might be interesting to see. Sadly, I missed its cinema release, so I was determined to buy the DVD when it came out. I am mighty glad that I did because this is a thoroughly enjoyable film.
THE FILM. Warm Bodies stars Nicholas Hoult as R the zombie hero, Teresa Palmer as Julie Grigio, his love interest, John Malkovich as Colonel Grigio (Julie's father) and Rob Corddry as M the zombie. It was directed by Jonathan Levine. This Canadian production was low budget, but achieved high production standards and utilised a great location in a zombie-infested airport in Montreal. It was released on 8th February 2013 in the UK and a week earlier in America.
THE PLOT. A young zombie named "R" (he can only remember that his name began with an "R") retains a semblance of intelligence as he wanders aimlessly around an airport terminal looking for a meaning to his undead existence. His best friend is another zombie, who goes by the name of "M". The pair of them grunt to one another at the airport's bar. R's life changes when a small group of survivors raid the airport. Two major events change his life forever. First, he kills a survivor called Perry and eats his brains. Doing so gives him access to Perry's memories. Apparently, this is why zombies are so fond of eating brains. The second major turning point is that he sees another survivor in the fight, a young female called Julie Grigio. Perry used to date her and so R instantly falls in love with her. He saves her from the other zombies and takes her to his secret hidey hole inside a passenger jet stuck on the runway. It was at this point that I realised this was not going to be your normal zombie apocalypse film. What follows is a plot similar to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet play. Note the similarity of the lover's names. Slowly but surely, Julie comes to realise that R is different to other zombies and is really a nice guy. He has the power of speech, which helps to convince Julie he can be trusted to look after her. For the most part the other zombies ignore the couple but the really old zombies, known as the Boneys due to their resemblance to skeletons as they become seriously emaciated, are not fooled and cannot be persuaded not to eat humans.
THE VERDICT. I absolutely loved this film. It was refreshingly different to most zombie films. Note the 12 certificate, indicating this was not going to be a gorefest. Saying that, there were a few gory scenes early on in the film. My mum couldn't watch them! I enjoyed them but I wanted more gore. Yes, I am a sicko! There is a lot of humour in the film. And romance. R's love for Juliet grows so strong that he passes his love on to other zombies, starting with M. Soon there is a horde of friendly zombies looking for love. Not the ending you'd expect but totally in keeping with the film's premise. I must give praise to the special features on the DVD. When the extras on a DVD last longer than the film, as in this case, I know I'm going to be in for a treat... and I was. Special mention must go to Rob Corddry, aka M, who was incredibly funny and witty. The interviews with the cast and crew were always interesting and entertaining. This is a zombie film that you can watch with your parents and older children and has a real feel-good factor to it. Charming is not an adjective I'd normally use for a zombie film but it perfectly suits Warm Bodies. I give this film an 8/10 rating. It scores an extra point just for the special features.

40 comments:

  1. I must admit to not being a fan of Zombie comedies or romances (I think this is the first romance one I've heard of), but your write up of it has me intrigued and I'll be watching out for it on your recommendation.

    On a different note it's great to see you blogging again.

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    1. Shaun of the Dead was described as a zomromcom, and the same title applies to Warm Bodies. It is well worth a view.

      As for blogging properly, it's great to be back. I'll be posting weekly (every Sunday) for a few weeks and then hopefully get back to my normal schedule of twice a week

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    2. I didn't like "Shaun of the Dead" either.

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  2. I didn't read beyond the first paragraph: this DVD has been on my own wish list for quite some time and I don't want to spoil the plot. Still, it's good to hear such an endorsement to confirm that it's worthwhile!

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    1. It certainly is worth waiting for. I hope I haven't given away too many spoilers but all the same, I appreciate your reluctance to read all that I have wrote.

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  3. Its great to see you blogging again! I saw the trailers and dismissed this film but on reading this I'll give it a view.

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    1. Thanks, Robert, it is good to be back. Funnily enough it was the trailer that made me want to watch this film.

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  4. Sounds like I should see this, good to have you blogging again mate!

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  5. I haven't yet seen the film, but it's on my "to watch" list! It's awesome to have you back blogging! :D

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    1. Thanks, Carl. I'm so glad to get back to my hobby and blogging again. I've been away far too long.

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  6. Nice review Bryan, I have a lot of films to catch up on!

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  7. I want to be convinced by this film but really I am not. For me it's a wait till it's on TV. That said if it comes out cheap enough it will be worth a try on DVD I suppose!

    Glad you feel OK to blog again. You have been missed!

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    1. We can't all like the same thing, Clint, but do try and catch it when it is aired on TV.

      As for blogging again, I'm raring to go.

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  8. I've not seen it either but it is definitely on the 'to do' list. Glad to have you back sir

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    1. Adam, can I take this opportunity to thank you for the superb get well soon card you sent me. It really made my day!

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  9. My 13 year old daughter saw this movie when it came out, and loved it. I scoffed and didnt see it. She made me watch it on DVD, and I hate to admit it, I enjoyed this movie. I would recomend it to even die hard zombie purists like myself, as a change of pace.

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  10. I went to see this in the Cinema with my wife and 11 year old (12A rated in the UK) - very much enjoyed it. The end 10 or 15 minutes is expectedly cheesy (although trying to deliver a message of sorts) but the comedy more than made up for it. The narration by "R" during the film is excellent, both funny and satirical, and some of the zombie dialogue is hilarious. I'd recommend as well.

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    1. I'm heartened to see so many of my followers liking this film. Of course the film is cheesy but there's nothing wrong with that. When it was over I had a feeling of "all is well with the world."

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  11. I watched this film with my missus a few weeks ago and we thoroughly enjoyed. So much so, that she wanted to watch it again the next evening. Unprecedented where my better half is concerned.

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  12. I always wondered about this one, I don't normally do romance...might make an exception

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  13. This has been on my list for a while. I'm really glad you did this review!
    Mira Grant did another novella. It's "How Green this Land" and deals with how Australia handles the virus. Right now it's only on Kindle, hopefully that and San Diego 2014 will both find their way into an anthology or something.
    Good to see back Bryan!

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    1. Now that I think about it: There's a free Kindle app for computers, so no one actually needs another piece of technology.

      http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000426311

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    2. Ooh, a new Mira Grant novella? Thanks for the heads up and extra thanks for the app. Say, wasn't Mira going to be guest speaker at a convention you were planning on attending earlier this year? If so, did you meet her and what was she like? She's one of the few authors I'd love to meet.

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    3. She was there! She's pretty cool. She's introverted, so is actually easier to get to know from her blogs and stuff. I only ran into her in passing, I just didn't feel it would be a good idea to encroach on her space. I may have missed out big time there.

      If you end up liking the app let me know, I can pass a couple more novellas along, including a Spanish written story that is excellent. It's such a different spin on the genre compared to the usual...

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  14. Hi Bryan! For the first time i'm not agree with you ;) For me the problem is like you're saying: "This is a zombie film that you can watch with your parents and older children" For me zombies film must be dirty, despair ending, unfair for human and bloody. This film is really fun yes and it's good to see it with friends and beer but it's not a real zombie film for me like Dawn of the dead from 2004 even if they are running...
    This film suffer for me of the Twilight syndrom.

    Like always my english is pretty bad hehe. How are you?

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    1. Hi, Fengrom. I'm doing very well, thank you. No problems if you don't like this film. You're entitled to your opinion as much as anyone else.

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  15. We borrowed this from the library over the weekend and enjoyed it. It was pretty funny and hit all the zombie tropes. What's not to like.

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    1. What's not to like, indeed! I'm glad you enjoyed it, Sean.

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  16. Glad you found a good movie, Bryan, I'm sure the distraction was nice for you. You sold me on trying the film. Keep getting better!

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    1. Many thanks, Roger. It's great to hear from you again and I hope you're doing well.

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    2. I'm holding my own Bryan and I'm damned happy that you're home brother. I'll email you when you are feeling better :)

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    3. I look forward to hearing from you, my friend. You take care.

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  17. I gotta agree with the Twilight syndrome the movie has, hated it to be honest. What I did like were the bonies (or whatever they were called) they were pretty good, I reckon they could star in a decent (proper Horror) movie by themselves! Good review though and nice to see you back on the interwebs!!

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    1. Cheers, thegrinningskull. I sure am glad to be back on the interwebs!

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